Toronto’s custom home market is crazy right now. Houses in Forest Hill, Rosedale, Lawrence Park going for millions. And the paint job better match that price tag. We’ve worked on enough high-end builds across Toronto to know – cheap painters ruin expensive projects.

Paint Lions does custom home painting throughout Toronto. North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough, downtown neighbourhoods. We work with builders putting up new houses on infill lots, homeowners doing tear-downs and rebuilds, developers doing small custom projects. Different than painting existing houses. Everything’s new, everything needs doing right first time.

Three-stage process we follow: drywall priming while construction’s still happening, initial painting once house is mostly done, touch-ups after final trades finish. Been refining this system for years working on Toronto builds. Keeps timeline moving, keeps quality high, keeps everyone happy.

Your not building custom home in Toronto to settle for builder-grade finishes. Need painters who understand high-end work, who show up when they say they will, who don’t hold up your occupancy date. That’s what we do.

custom home painting toronto new build interior

How Custom Home Painting Works in Toronto

Toronto builds move fast. Lot costs are insane, carrying costs are high, everyone wants occupancy yesterday. Can’t have painters slowing things down. Our three-stage system keeps projects moving without sacrificing quality:

  • Drywall Priming
  • Initilial Painting
  • Paint Touch Ups

Stage One: Drywall Primer

First stage happens while your Toronto build is still active construction site. Drywall guys just finished taping and mudding, dust everywhere, electricians still running wires, HVAC guys adjusting vents. This is when we come in with drywall primer.

Ceilings get sprayed with primer, then backrolled. Covers everything even, seals the drywall proper. Walls just get rolled with drywall primer – no spraying at this point. Why? Because spraying walls when site’s still dusty creates mess that takes forever to clean. All that construction dust sticks to wet sprayed walls. Rolling keeps things cleaner, faster.

Also, if we sprayed walls now, we’d have to mask off every window, every outlet, every floor section. Takes twice as long, uses way more materials. When we only spray ceilings, just need to protect window sills and horizontal surfaces. Way more efficient for tight Toronto timelines.

We use quality drywall primer – Benjamin Moore or Sherwin-Williams products. Cheap primer shows every patch, every seam, every imperfection later. Not worth saving $50 on primer when house costs over a million.

drywall primer application toronto house painters

Stage Two: Initial Painting

Second stage happens when your Toronto custom home is almost finished. Hardwood’s down, tiles done, kitchen installed, bathrooms complete. Site should be clean, other trades mostly done. Now we come in for the real painting work.

Four parts to this stage: preparation work, spray painting all trim, painting walls, final cleanup.

Start by fixing everything. Patch nail holes in all trim – baseboards, casings, doors, crown molding. Fix dents, dings, damage from other trades. Sand repairs smooth. Check walls with work light – shining light at angle shows every imperfection that needs attention.

Then caulking. Every gap between trim and wall. Every crack in drywall. Every joint in woodwork. Takes days in typical Toronto custom home because there’s hundreds of spots needing caulk. But this is what separates professional job from rushed job.

Finally, masking and protection. Cover everything that shouldn’t get paint – tiles, hardwood, windows, hardware, fixtures. Takes time but saves massive headaches later when you don’t have overspray to scrape off expensive finishes.

Now the spray painting starts. Primer on all trim first – every piece of wood gets covered. Let dry, then sand smooth. Second coat primer, sand again. Then first finish coat, sand. Final finish coat. That’s four rounds of sanding total.

Sounds like lot of work? It is. But this is what makes high-end Toronto homes look high-end. The sanding removes texture, removes any small imperfections, creates glass-smooth finish. Skip the sanding and trim looks okay. Do the sanding and trim looks factory-perfect.

Doors get same treatment – both sides, all edges. Crown molding, baseboards, window casings, everything. We also spray ceiling finish coat during this stage, backroll while wet to create slight texture. Helps touch-ups blend better later.

Walls are easier since prep’s done. Sand lightly before first coat to knock down dust. Roll first coat, let dry completely. Second coat, sand lightly after for smooth feel. Two coats is standard, three if your going dark color or doing accent walls.

After walls dry, we pull all masking and protection. Clean windows, wipe fixtures, mop floors. Get rid of any tiny overspray that escaped. Leave house ready for final trades – countertop guys, appliance installers, whoever’s left.

For Toronto homes with feature walls or multiple colors, we pay extra attention to lines between colors. Need crisp edges, no bleeding, no mistakes. That’s what clients paying premium prices expect.

spray painting toronto new home construction

Stage Three: Final Touch-Ups

Last stage happens after everyone else finishes. Countertop installers done, appliances hooked up, light fixtures installed, plumbers finished. Always some damage from these final trades – scratched wall here, dinged trim there, scuff mark somewhere.

We come back, fix everything. Usually takes day or two for typical Toronto custom home. Some trades are careful, some aren’t. Either way, we make it right.

Touch up walls where needed, fix any scratched trim, repaint damaged spots. If house has stairs getting stained, this is when we do them – after all foot traffic stops, after all other work done.

Final walkthrough with homeowner or builder. Check every room, every corner. Make sure everything’s perfect before occupancy. That’s how we’ve built reputation in Toronto – leaving jobs actually finished, not just “mostly done.”

toronto custom home painting finished interior black trim white walls

Getting Started

Want quote for custom home painting? We need address, square footage, whether it’s new construction or renovation, and timeline.

We come out, measure, talk through what you want. Give detailed quote

Most projects book 4-8 weeks out, longer during spring and fall. If timeline’s tight, tell us up front. We’ll be honest if we can make it work.

FAQs

We work all over Toronto – Forest Hill, Rosedale, Lawrence Park, Leaside, Moore Park, North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough. Also cover areas just outside like Vaughan and Richmond Hill. If your building custom home in GTA, we probably work in your area.

Depends on size and finishes. Typical 3000 square foot Toronto custom home runs $15,000-25,000 for interior painting. Bigger homes, high-end finishes, complicated trim work costs more. We give detailed quotes after seeing the space, so no surprises.

Yeah, we work with both builders and homeowners directly. Some of our builder clients we’ve worked with for years across multiple Toronto projects. We understand construction timelines, coordinate with other trades, don’t hold up schedules.

Mainly Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams. Both make quality products that last. For Toronto custom homes we typically use Benjamin Moore Regal Select or Aura for walls, Scuff-X for trim. Sometimes clients have specific brand preference and we work with that.

Related: Custom Home Painting Gallery